BassRoll: Love is Electric
by Bojack727
Summary: AU set after MM7. Roll is taken hostage in Dr. Wily's latest scheme. When Mega Man comes to her rescue, Wily betrays Bass and leaves him to die. Rescued and taken in by the Light family, Bass struggles to come to terms with his new life among the Light Bots, as he tries to understand his growing feelings for Roll. But is there something more to Wily's betrayal?
1. Chapter 1

I've been meaning to write a Mega Man fanfiction for a while now. In fact, I toyed with possible story ideas for close to a decade. And since the people at Capcom seem content to sit back and bury all their long-running franchises, it falls to the true fans (those of us in our 30s, who played their games on the NES and SNES) to remind people that there was a time when the company _actually made great games_ , rather than just DLC gimmicks based on nostalgia for the 80s and 90s as Capcom gradually implodes as a business.

With that in mind, Mega Man 1-7 are "hard" continuity. As for the date of the story, I added 60 years to the release date of the first game (1987), and the 9 years between the released 1 and 7. Also, the Game Boy Games are also in continuity, as well as a good deal of the Archie Comics content.

* * *

 **MEGA MAN:  
"LOVE IS ELECTRIC"**

 **Part 01**

 _Time: 2047 (Two years After Wily's Escape from Prison)...  
Location: Wily's current fortress, exact coordinates unknown...  
_

Roll sighed, as she sat down in the spartan metal chair, smoothing out the red fabric of her knee-length dress as she did her best to get comfortable. She hitched one leg over the over, folding her arms across her chest as she focused her gaze on the only other occupant in the room.

The housekeeping robot had been in the middle of her daily routine, when Bass had appeared above her in his Booster Mode to scoop her and fly off in a burst of jet fire. Roll knew she should have been more upset at being kidnapped, but given that her abductor appeared just as annoyed with the situation as she was mitigated her anger to a degree. As as the well as the fact that he showed far more concern when it came to handling than was normally expected of a kidnapper.

She checked her black and white high-cut jacket and green hair ribbon, making sure her ensemble was in order, before crossing her arms. She could discern mild annoyance in the sleekly built robot that was presently serving in the role of her jailor. Bass leaned against the far wall, arms folded- in a mirror of her own pose- doing his best to look anywhere but at her.

The blonde female robot could tell that her captor was on edge, likely frustrated with the fact that he'd been sidelined from battle to keep watch over her, while other bots were likely preparing to engage her brother once again. Her years spent as the sole female in a distinctly male household had provided her with some insight in deciphering the moods of men.

"You know, Bass," Roll began, drawing his crimson gaze to her blue eyes. "I really don't understand your fixation with my brother." She observed teasingly, flashing him a little sly smile.

Bass didn't respond as expected, rather, he silently turned his gaze away from her in irritation, and her smile promptly faltered. "Bass..." She began. "I know that Wily designed you based off of my brother's schematics, to serve as a _countermeasure_ to Mega Man." Role observed. "You're always talking about how you're better than Rock, and how you're going to defeat him and finally prove it..."

She paused, choosing her next words. "But if you really are superior... Then why are you taking orders from _Doctor Wily_ of all people?" Roll continued pointedly. "How many years now has this been going on, and you're still going to stand here and tell me that it makes _any_ kind of sense?" She asked, to his growing annoyance. "Or... Do you really just hate Rock that much?"

"Maybe you haven't been keeping score of things, dollface," Bass began. "But your brother and me are fighting on different sides." He continued angrily. "This isn't a tea party going on out there, this is war. Mega Man is a Light Bot, and I'm a Wily Bot, what do you expect from me?"

She cast her gaze downward. "What about me, Bass?" Annoyance filtering into her voice. "Despite my outward design, I am a Light Robot, the same as my brother... Would you destroy me too simply as a matter of principle?"

At this, he turned to her, his eyes wide and an expression of surprise on his face, seemingly unprepared for even the suggestion of such an idea. To his credit, Bass was quick to compose himself, though there was still an edge in the way that he was now looking at her.

"What do you want me to say?" He began. "Doctor Wily built me to destroy Mega Man, shouldn't that be enough of an answer for you?" Bass added curtly.

"No, it's not! And it shouldn't be for you either!" Roll fired back at him, much more forcefully then she had intended, or even thought herself capable of. And judging from the look on his face, she guessed that he was just as taken aback by the intensity of her outburst as she was.

Bass advanced toward her. "What the hell do you want from me?" He demanded, towering over her by several inches as he peered into her blue eyes.

Roll stood up, meeting his gaze and not backing down. _"A real answer!"_ She exclaimed. "What do _you_ want, Bass? _Well?!"_ The blonde-haired robot continued. "Because I refuse to believe all your posturing and anger is all there is to you." She finished defiantly.

The previous intensity vanished from him, only to be replaced with an audible fatigue in both his tone and posture as her looked at her. "What do you and brother do at the lab when he's not fighting?"

"W-what?" Roll asked, surprised with the sudden shift in the conversation.

"How do you fill the time between Doctor Wily's attacks?" He asked.

"Well, I..." She hesitated. "I do the housekeeping and help Doctor Light in the lab- mainly, by making sure that he eats regularly and doesn't overwork himself." Roll replied. "Aside from that... I've taken up knitting recently, and tending to the vegetable garden I started."

Bass smiled at her. "Hmm, sounds nice..." He remarked thoughtfully, which only served to unnerve her as he looked into her eyes. "Do you know what happens around here, when the Doctor isn't busy working on whatever his latest plan happens to be?" He asked, not waiting for her to respond. "He storms around, bitching to everyone in earshot about _how_ he could have been defeated _yet_ again... And telling me how much of a disappointment I am for failing to defeat your brother."

Roll looked up into his eyes for a while, something flickering in his scarlet orbs. She brushed a hand through her soft blonde locks and shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Bass... I never really thought about what it must have been like for you, or to see things for your perspective."

 **...o.o.o...**

Mega Man, clad in his iconic blue armor, soared across the horizon- on his faithful support unit and pet, the robotic dog Rush, presently in 'jet' mode. He spotted the highest point of what he instantly knew to be the latest iteration of Wily's Base. Not that it would have been difficult, given the garish skull motif that Wily always incorporated into his architecture.

Though, he could hardly expect Wily to try to obfuscate his presence from either Mega Man or the rest of the world. Given the scale and frequency of the Doctor's attacks, a massive base of operations would be needed in order to properly oversee the deployment and movement of his forces. Combined with the fact that Wily was the only person possessing both the madness and dedication to keep launching these attacks meant that he was the only real suspect whenever robots started wreaking havoc.

He heard a beep from the built-in communicator in his helmet, alerting him to the familiar sound of his older brother's voice as Proto Man came through the line. "Rock, what's you're status?" He asked calmly in a voice that was of slightly deeper register than his own.

"I'm making good time," Mega Man began. "I haven't encountered any resistance so far... Though I've got a positive on Wily's fortress in the distance." He explained. "What about you, Blues, how are things going on your end- what's the city like?" He inquired.

"Strange." Proto Man replied after a moment. "Something's not right in all of this... The forces Wily sent turned out to be pretty minimal." He revealed. "Nowhere close to what would be needed just to take the city, let alone the region... I'm certain now that this was always just a diversion."

Mega Man nodded. "I thought so too, but a diversion for what?"

"We'll find out soon enough, one way or the other." Proto Man answered. "I'm heading out to join you, but it'll take me a little while to get there." He informed him. "In the meantime, watch your back, I've already got a bad feeling about this whole thing." He cautioned. "And the last thing I need right now is you getting scrapped while I wasn't there to back you up... Roll would _never_ forgive either us."

Mega Man couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Don't worry, my main concern is getting Roll safely out of there, so I don't plan on taking any unnecessary risks while I'm in there."

 **...o.o.o...**

 _Silence had fallen between the two of them..._

After a moment, Roll brought a hand up to cup the side of his face, as something mysterious crackled between them. He stiffened slightly at the unfamiliar contact, but made no move to withdraw from her touch or to brush away her hand. "Wily may have originally built you with the purpose to destroy my brother... But it's possible to exceed your original programming." Roll added softly, never breaking her eye-contact with him. "I was built as Rock's sister, to take care of the lab... But I evolved beyond those parameters, I made choice- to become something more."

" _Something more..."_ He murmurs back, as his larger armored hand moves to cover her smaller, delicate one with his. "And you think it's really just that easy? That I just make a choice, and I'm free?"

She shook her head. "No, of course not." Roll answered honestly. "But it is a start."

His eyes closed... Wondering _how long had he been putting up with the Doctor's crap?_ As much as Bass hated his own inability to best Mega Man in battle and prove himself as the superior bot, he also resented Doctor Wily for imposing the desire on him- for making it a priority of his core directive, and thereby robbing him of the ability to chose for himself...

The sound of alarms going off filled the room, snapping back of them back to reality. Bass looked over to the nearest flashing light, then back to her with a smirk. "Sorry, but it sounds like we'll have to save the rest of this conversation for another time."

"My brother?" Roll asked, more out of curiosity than relief.

He nodded. "It was just a matter of time before he reached the fortress' outer parameter..." Bass replied calmly, before glancing to his buster. "Believe me, I've taken part in enough of these that I could pretty much do the whole routine in idle mode." He quipped. "Still, orders are orders... I guess."

 **...o.o.o...**

Not long after breaching the inner parameter, Mega Man had blasted his way though the main entryway of the large skull-themed fortress. He disengaged Rush from jet-mode, beaming the robot dog away for the moment as he set out on foot down the large corridor.

Aside from the built in defenses and basic security drones, Mega Man had yet to encounter much in the way of resistance as he continued deeper into the fortress. Still, he knew from experience not to let his guard down when it came to dealing with Wily. While the mad scientists was predictable in his ways, it didn't make him any less dangerous- especially, when fighting him on his own 'turf' as it were.

He reached a large open room with a high ceiling, just in time for a pair of heavy automated doors to slide shut behind him with a metallic groan. Mega Man skidded to a halt, looking up as a hatch opened up above him, and the familiar figure of Bass gracefully dropped to the ground.

"I knew it was just a matter of time before you came looking for your sister." Bass remarked, his voice low and measured as he addressed his rival.

"Where is she?!" Mega Man demanded angrily.

Bass chuckled languidly. "Don't worry, loser, blondy's doing just fine." He replied. "But if you want to get her back, then you'll have to go through me first." The robot declared, as he then summoned Treble to merge with him- boosting his battle power considerably.

Mega Man took a step back, charging his mega-buster to full power. Bass fired up the jets and started to glide toward him. As this was happening, both of them failed to notice as a spherical device a bit larger than a beach ball dropped down through the same hatch that Bass had entered through...

The Wily bot continued his advance, preparing to fire, at the same time as Mega Man held up his own arm-cannon to let off a blast of his own. But before anything could happen, the spherical device moved behind Bass and unleashed a burst of energy at him- electrocuting Bass. He cried out in shock and pain, while the same disruptive energy arced out from his body to strike Mega Man.

The same pained wracked Mega Man, sending him flying at the heavy doors behind him and bouncing onto the floor, at the same time as Bass went crashing to the ground. Mega Man's whole body convulsed and he felt his power levels dropping as his diagnostic system registered faults throughout him. And his opponent was fairing any better. The layer of purple armoring that represented Treble vanished, leaving Bass alone on the floor, experiencing the same agony.

The violet crystal on Bass' chest plate flashed, signaling a fault in his systems, though he was coherent enough to realize that something was very wrong with him, even without his diagnostic system warning him of this. He tried to move, but the surprise attack had left him prone on the mettle floor...

 _ **To Be Continued...**_


	2. Chapter 2

Right off the bat, I just want to say thanks to nimnitzle and DaMaverickBlast for reviewing the first chapter. Thanks guys.

In the twelve years that I've been writing fanfiction, I've discovered some interesting points in ending a chapters on a cliffhanger. The 'closer' at the end of one serves to build tension and dramatic impetus, yet the very same scene can take on a _totally_ different tone as the 'opener' at the start of the next. The frenetic tension is replaced by a slower more detailed slow-burn build. I liken it to recalling a traumatic ordeal you went through once you're out of danger, and you're able to remember things you didn't register at the time.

* * *

 **LOVE IS  
ELECTRIC**

 **Part 02**

The front gates, situated in the "jaw" of gaping maw of the giant forward-facing skull that the formed the entry point of the castle, shuddered as a super-charged blast blew a hole through it. Mega Man flew through the breach, into a wide corridor, then disengaged Rush from jet-mode. The red robot dog then teleported away for the moment as he set out on foot down the large corridor.

Aside from the built-in defenses and some rather pedestrian security drones, Mega Man encountered little in the way of a proper resistance- not even Mets- as he continued deeper into the fortress. Still, he wasn't about to let his guard down. He knew from past experience that Doctor Wily always had a plan, no matter how convoluted it might be, it was just a matter of working it out. The madman might have been predictable in many ways, but that didn't make him any less dangerous- especially, when it came to fighting him on his own 'turf' as it were.

He finally arrived at a large room- about 30 meters squared, and 50 meters high- just in time as heavy doors slammed shut behind him with a metallic groan of concealed motors. Unsurprisingly, his retreat was now cut-off bywhat looked to be armored blast doors. But then, fighting your way into a Wily-built fortress was always a one-way trip, as getting out meant defeating the Doctor. He cast his gaze upward as a large hatch slid open overhead, then watched as Bass gracefully dropped into the ground on one knee, before rising up to regard him with his crimson eyes.

Bass smiled devilishly at him. "I knew that it was just a matter of time before you finally came looking for your sister, _Mega-twerp."_ The Wily Bot commented in a low mocking tone, as he slowly advanced toward the blue robot, his left hand vanishing as his forearm morphed into its blaster mode- capped off at the end by a muzzle the color of polished brass.

Mega Man's dark brown eyes narrowed. "Bass..." He began darkly, regarding the purple and black robot approaching him. "Where is she?! I swear, if anything's happened to Roll, I'll-"

He came to a halt, head tilted back and chuckled languidly. "Don't worry about her, blondy is just fine." Bass answered smoothly, his tone full of his usual arrogant bluster. "Though you really should be more concerned with your own health, because the only way you'll get to Roll... _Is through me!"_

Magaman glowered at him in irritation, but took a step back and set about charging his mega-buster to full power. Bass fired up the jets of his booster system and glided toward him. As this was happening, both failed to notice as a large spherical device- a bit bigger than a beach ball- dropped down through the same hatch that Bass had entered through...

The Wily bot continued his advance, preparing to fire, at the same time as Mega Man held up his own arm-cannon to let off a blast of his own. But before anything could happen, the spherical device moved in close behind Bass and unleashed a burst of energy directly at him- electrocuting Bass. He cried out in a mix of shock and pain, while the same disruptive energy arced outward from his body and struck Mega Man like a wrecking ball- sending him flying back with a cry of pain.

His entire body felt like it was on fire, even as he violently collided with the hard surface of the doors and fell to the metal floor below. At the same time, Bass toppled forward with a metallic thud, leaving both of them prone, their bodies convulsing as their power levels dropped rapidly in the wake of the attack carried out against them. Mega Man's diagnostic system registered faults throughout him. And he could tell that his opponent was fairing any better.

The purple armoring that represented Treble in the enhanced mode vanished, leaving Bass alone on the floor as he was overcome with pain. The violet crystal on Bass' chest plate flashed on and off, signaling a major fault in his systems, to the extent that his vital functions were threatened. He tried to move, but the Orb's attack had sapped him of any strength he once had. Mega Man watched in confusion as it sent a second burst of energy into Bass, which traveled from his body into his. The blue robot cried out in pain and his back arched sharply, only to then go slack.

A panel in the wall slid open to reveal a large screen. Mega Man turned to look at it, while Bass rolled onto his side, both robots only partially processing what was going on. The screen flickered to life, and an image of Doctor Wily appeared on it.

" _You seem surprised Bass?"_ He began, looking to his creation. _"Tell me something, how long did you think I would tolerate your constant failures, especially in light of your continued insolence?"_

Bass's eyes went wide at this. _"Think about it, I created you to destroy Mega Man- a task which you have repeatedly failed to carry out."_ Wily continued. _"Still, it remains my intention that you fulfill the goal for which you were created. Should you prove unable to achieve this in battle, well... I always make sure to include contingency plans in all my projects."_

" _Mega Man,"_ he resumed, turning to him. _"Right now, the mechanism that's attacking you, it's using Bass as an amplifier to super-charge its attacks... True, the surges will eventually burn out his systems, but you'll likely cease functioning before then, and sacrifices must be made."_

"Bastard!" Bass exclaimed through grit teeth.

"Y-you wont... get away w-with this, Wily." Mega Man declared weekly.

The Doctor grinned maniacally at this. " _Brave words, considering both of you will soon be destroyed."_ Wily replied with a smile. _"I'd love to stick around for the show, but you see, just in case these attacks don't finish you off, I've pre-programmed an automated signal to broadcast throughout the fortress that will trigger a critical fault in Bass and overload his core- effectively turning him into a bomb..."_

Wily chuckled and continued _._ _"As a robot, I expect you can appreciate the sheer magnitude of power required to keep a high-level android fully-functional. The output from your own core is roughly equal to the power of a small fission device, and I constructed Bass to be a match for you... Just thank about it Mega Man, that's a lot of power."_ He remarked. _"Such that I'd wager even you, the pride of Doctor Light's genius, wouldn't be able to whether the explosion at this close a range."_

"But...Why?" Bass asked weekly.

Wily's gaze turned back to him. _"Why, you ask? Well, it's rather simple really, **results.** I'm on the verge of a breakthrough that will change everything... And I will no longer tolerate inefficiency. You've served me well enough, but you're fast becoming a liability to my plans." He continued. "I built you to destroy Mega Man, and it remains my intention that you should fulfill this task."_

His bushy gray eyebrows arched upward as he gave a wild grin. _"Though, I'm afraid that it just won't be in the manner you had planned for him."_ The mad scientist added. _"Still, if it helps, Bass, you can take comfort in the knowledge that you'll_ _ **finally**_ _succeeded in destroying Mega Man."_

With that, the screen flickered and went dark. Mega Man looked to the orb, as the spherical mechanism appeared to be powering up to unload another attack. The blue robot felt pretty rough, and a quick look told him that Bass was in an even worse condition. The other robot looked down at his chest, brushing his hand over the purple gem as it continued to flash in a slow sequence.

 **...o.o.o...**

 _Elsewhere in the Skull Fortress..._

Roll felt the entire fortress begin to tremble violently, dust falling around her and the overhead light fixtures shook above her. She made her way, on slightly unsteady feet, to the door. She knelt down and got to work on prying open the security panel beside it. Eventually, she worked it loose enough to pull the entire panel- key pad and all- out and expose the wiring.

"Now, I just hope all those time I helped the Doctor in the labs will pay off..." She muttered to herself as she looked over the wires that ran from the panel into the wall. "...And that Doctor Light thought to include proper electrical insulation when he built me." He added, with a nervous smile on her face as she reached into the exposed guts of the mechanism. She found what she (hoped) was looking for, and closed her eyes as she yanked the red wire out.

When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and exhaled. Roll then pulled out out a second wire, this one being black, and crossed it with the red. A large spark fired off, and she toppled back with a girlish yelp, however, she watched with relief as the door slid open. The blonde robot quickly got to her feet, and smoothing her dress, exited through the now open door.

Roll did her best to navigate the winding tunnels. However, she came to a stop when she saw that there was a large hole all the way through the central section of the fortress. Putting her hand up to shield her eyes from the sunlight spilling through the newly created hole in the domed roof... Just in time to watch as the last of the debris fell from Wily's Skull Flier as the aircraft rose up and flew away.

"He's abandoning the Fortress... under his own power?" She mused aloud. "Something's really wrong here, that thing should be full of holes and spitting out smoke... But it looks untouched." Roll observed as she watched the skull-faced craft vanish into the distance.

The blonde-haired domestic robot turned to the nearest doorway. "If that lunatic is leaving without a fight, then I better get the heck out of here... before something _really_ bad happens."

 **...o.o.o...**

Mega Man heard the distant sound of gunfire and explosions, though the racket was largely muffled by the heavy doors presently entrapping him in the room. Before he could think any further on the matter, the Orb unleashed a burst of energy into Bass- drawing an agonized scream from him in the process- before arching out to blast him. Mega Man cried out, slumping down in pain.

The Orb began powering up for a third blast, just the sound of a some kind of machinery powering up could be heard just beyond the doors. The metal soon began to hiss and crackle, though another attack prevented either Mega Man or Bass from registering this.

 **...o.o.o...**

"This is taking too long." Fire Man snapped in frustration. "I'm deactivating my safeties, so let's see if _two-hundred_ percent is strong enough to get through this!" He exclaimed, before projecting an intense outpouring of fire from his arm-cannons, literally giving the doors 'both barrels'.

"Are you crazy?" Proto Man exclaimed. "You're pushing your systems too hard, you'll end up burning out your Fire Storm ability..." He protested frantically. "You could even wind up burning out your core and destroying your CPU with this stunt.. You can't help Rock if you're dead!"

Ballade silently observed the two robots, battle-ready and his weaponry powered up, while a large area of the massive doors began to glow faintly, rewarding Fire Man's efforts.

"Three-hundred percent!" He declared with effort. "Mega Man- our fellow Light Bot, _your_ brother- is trapped in there!" Fire Man continued, resolute in the face of his fatigue- his knees bending slightly and his shoulders hunched as he kept his arms outstretched, the micro-servos that controlled his artificial musculature and his internal cooling system working over-time to keep him functioning.

A dull red 'circle' began to form in front of him as he continued. "As far... as I'm concerned, there's no point in talking about who **might** _possibly_ die, not when Mega Man _will_ die, unless I can get us through these doors in time..." Fire Man continued insistently. "It's as simple as that!"

The section of the doors were starting to glow as the color of the metal slowly became an increasingly brighter shade of red under the barrage of flames hitting it. "Time is a luxury we don't have!" Fire Man went on, as beads of sweat trickled down his temples. "And you can't tell me that Mega Man wouldn't do the same for any one of us if he was in our place!" Fire Man continued defiantly, even as his knees started to buckle under the considerable strain of his exertion.

The were all basked in the halo of light radiating outward from the doors, with Proto Man's black visor reflecting the bright reddish-orange glow from the near-molten metal. Ballade squinted his eyes, before he finally turned away, the glare becoming intolerable for his visual input systems.

"Fire Man's right!" Ballade interjected, with a determined look. "Mega Man has saved more lives than than could ever be counted- including myself- we owe it to him to follow his example!" The reformed Wily Bot exclaimed with fervor, his whole body tensed in anticipation.

Proto Man, the first robot created by Thomas Light and Albert Wily and the basis for the generation of thinking machines the two men would usher in, was at a loss. The declarations- from a fellow Light Bot and a former Wily Bot, respectively- hit him like a slap in the face. The red and gray robot gave a silent nod, resigned to the realization that he was alone in his pragmatism. It truly seemed that his brother's optimism was 'contagious'... He gave them a simple nod, before he turned back to the doors.

"Right on!" Fire Man cried out, sweat pouring down face. "Besides... These doors... are nothing before before... the power of my _Flames of Justice!"_

The super-heated metal was glowing so brightly, that it was like looking at the sun, and the surface was starting to visibly warp and ungulate. "The doors, they're giving way!" Proto Man declared, just in time as Fire Man's torches sputtered out and dropped to the floor. "Quick, Ballade- _blow the doors!"_

He nodded, firing his Ballade Cracker explosives from the cannons in his shoulders, which blew open a wide hole through the section that Fire Man had been working on...

 **...o.o.o...**

 _Minutes Earlier..._

Bass wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. Whatever this thing was, what it was doing to him was more than just electrical shocks. Each time he took another blast from the thing, he could feel his systems growing weaker with each jolt. While he had been built for combat, he wasn't totally ignorant of the inner workings of his artificial body.

The attacks 'burned' his insides, yet for as much as it hurt, he knew enough to realize the truth was far more dire than this superficial pane. The core that supplied power to his body- not all that dissimilar to how the humans' organs supplied blood and oxygen- was a vast untapped reserve of energy, enough to maintain his simple mechanical functions long after his CPU and other systems that controlled his higher functions were destroyed... Meaning he'd keep _functioning_ , even after he was dead.

His systems were far too damaged by this point, to the extent that he failed to register the fact that part of the doors had turned red hot, nor as it began to warp and crumple like melting ice...

He rolled onto his back, eyes glazed as he stared upward... Suddenly, he understood what the humans meant when they talked about the difference between biology and living. What good was it to keep the body going if there wasn't anything left of the person? Bass closed his eyes, and a chuckled weakly to himself, before opening his eyes again- only to find the world around him blurry and unfocused.

The molten metal was breaking apart, falling in on itself as it melted away- forming an opening in the hissing and smoking metal of the blast doors...

"So... this is death?" The Wily Bot muttered softly to himself, just as his body was wracked by another burst of energy from the Orb. _"Is_ this death...?" Bass mused aloud, giving voice to his thoughts.

A fully-charged energy blast flew through the breach, hitting the floating metal sphere and blowing open the front of it, exposing the thing's innards amidst a spray of smoke and sparks. This was enough for the machine to violently explode, sending shrapnel and bits of circuitry in all directly.

Bass closed his eyed. "...Hmm, yes, I must be dieing."

Proto Man stepped precariously through the hole in the thick doors, mindful of the considerable heat that still lingered in the edges surrounding the gap. He was immediately followed by Ballade, who had to duck down to enter the chamber. He instantly spotted Mega Man, prone on the floor.

Rushing to kneel beside his brother, he activated his com-link. "Rush, this is Proto Man, I am issuing an emergency override- my instructions now take priority." He began. "Lock in on my location, use it to beam directly here for an emergency evacuation."

"Ballade, go find Roll, I'll take care of Mega Man." Proto Man instructed him, as he scooped the blue robot up into his arms, right as Rush appeared- teleporting in with a brief flash of light.

The purple battle robot nodded. "Right," he began to leave, but stopped. "Hey, Proto Man... Take care, not just of Mega Man, but yourself too." He gave a small smile, before departing.

Proto Man nodded and turned to deposit his brother onto Rush's back. The robot dog, having intuitively guessed his intent, had transformed into his jet-mode.

"Quick, Rush, get Mega Man out of here!" He instructed him, prompting a bark of acknowledgment from Rush as her fired up his boosters and zoomed off down the corridor.

Now alone, Proto Man turned to regard Bass's fallen form for an instant, then shook his head.

"No, I don't suppose Rock would be okay with just leaving him behind..." He remarked, as he walked over the now incapacitated Wily Bot. His eyes suddenly widened as his own systems detected an errant signal being broadcast directly at Bass. Proto Man rushed over to him and knelt down, and noticed that the purple gem on his chest was flashing in intervals of about ten seconds.

"The signal..." Proto Man began, his tone grave. "It's a trigger... to induce Self-Destruction!"

 _ **To Be Continued...**_

* * *

What is Doctor Wily up to? With this chapter, the larger plot (ie. the one going on "around" Roll and Bass) starts to creep in...

Sorry that it's taken so long to get another chapter posted. Despite the delay, I'm actually ahead in terms of content, so it's not like I just stopped writing during the gap. I just like to try and be far enough ahead of what I've just posted that I don't end up surprising myself.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the long wait, but I've been pretty busy lately- mainly training for my (hopefully) new job. Anyway, I want to thank LivingAtSomePointInTime and GeekyGamerCat for their reviews of the last chapter. I'll try and have the next update posted sooner.

* * *

 **LOVE IS  
ELECTRIC**

 **Part 03**

"So... this is death?" The Wily Bot muttered softly to himself, just as his body was racked by another burst of energy from the Orb. _"Is_ this death...?" Bass mused aloud, giving voice to his thoughts.

A fully-charged energy blast scattered the smoke pouring from the breach. The glowing ball of energy hit the floating sphere dead-on and blew the front of it open, exposing the machine's innards amidst a spray of smoke and sparks. The Orb shuddered and violently exploded, sending out shrapnel and bits of circuitry in all direction as the smoking hull clattered to the floor.

Bass closed his eyed. "...Hmm, yes," he smiled, half delirious from the 'pain' caused by the feedback from his sensors. "I understand now... I must be dieing."

Proto Man took a cautious step through the still-smoking hole in the doors, mindful of the considerable heat that lingered in the edges surrounding the gap. He was immediately followed by Ballade, ducking down as he entered the chamber. The violet robot instantly spotted Mega Man, prone on the floor.

The elder brother rushed forward, getting down on a knee beside his sibling. "Rush, this is Proto Man," he spoke through the com-link in his helmet. "Mega Man is nonfunctional... As of now, per emergency command hierarchy, my instructions take priority." Proto Man continued. "Lock in on my location, use it to beam directly here for an emergency evacuation."

"Ballade," Proto Man resumed, looking to the other robot. "Go locate Roll, and then get her to safety, while I see to the situation here." He instructed, scooping his brother up into his arms, just as Rush teleported into the room in a flash of light as he fully materialized.

An instant passed, an he nodded. "Right," Ballade acknowledged, about to leave, then paused. "Hey, Proto Man... Take care, and not just of Mega Man, look out for yourself too." He gave a small smile.

Proto Man gave the purple battle bot a nod as he departed, and turned to deposit his brother onto Rush's back. The robot dog, having intuitively guessed his intent, had already transformed into his jet-mode.

"Quick, Rush, get Mega Man out of here!" He instructed, prompting a bark of acknowledgment from Rush as he fired up his boosters and zoomed off down the corridor. "With any luck, Doctor Light will send Eddie in- hopefully with a big enough ride to seat everyone..." Proto Man remarked.

Now alone, he turned to regard Bass's fallen form for an instant, then shook his head. "And you, what am I to do with you?" He asked to no one. "Do I leave you to your fate...?"

"No... No, I think not." He replied in answered his question. "I don't suppose Rock would be okay with just leaving him behind like this." He concluded aloud, as he walked over the incapacitated Wily Bot. His eyes narrowed as his own systems detected an errant signal being broadcast directly at Bass.

Proto Man rushed over and knelt down at his side, then noticed that the prominent purple gem on his chest was flashing in intervals of about ten seconds. "What is this signal...?" He started. "No, it can't be...? Dammit, it's a trigger!" He exclaimed, eyes wide. "Shit, _Self-Destruction!"_

He tensed, pulling his hand back for an instant. "If he goes critical... Who knows what's stored up in this fortress that could wind up setting off a chain reaction and take out this whole area." The Light bot thought to himself as he tried to process the situation. "Great! I _have_ to save him, or risk him damaging whatever powers this fortress..." He paused. "If the reactor goes critical- goodbye countryside!"

Proto Man looked around frantically. "Well I guess I'll just have to improvise..."

 **...o.o.o...**

Given her unfamiliarity with the place and the fact that she was in enemy territory, Roll had no way of accessing the internal transit within the fortress or even schematics. As such, she found herself making use of whatever corridor or staircase that wasn't blocked by security.

The domestic robot was making her way down a winding staircase that she could only guess was built around some kind of central structure- perhaps the main elevator- when the blond turned another corner and saw motionless form of Treble, directly ahead of her at the foot of the section of stairs that she was about to descend. Roll quickly made her down the steps, not even considering that the robotic animal and support unit might be hostile towards her simply because of its programming.

"Treble?" She called, jostling the beast. Roll suddenly found herself wishing that the canine-like bot had the ability to vocalize with her, especially given that she knew that something must have gone very wrong for him to have somehow ended up separated from Bass. "Come on boy, answer me- just let me know you're alright and still functioning..." She implored.

" _Roll?!"_

She snapped to attention, as the level door to the stairwell was kicked open with a metallic grown and Ballade leaned in to cast his gaze around the stairwell, quickly spotting the blonde female domestic bot kneeling beside the prone form of Bass's leonine support robot.

"Roll!" He called as he rushed to her side.

"Ballade, what on earth is going on here?" Roll asked, confused.

He shook his head as he knelt down. "It's not clear," he began. "When we got here, we encountered this machine that was attacking both your brother and Bass." The purple robot explained to her as he started searching for something on the beast, eventually succeeding in locating a small panel on his back, close to Treble's purple metallic mane. The metal plate receded, revealing what Roll recognized- from her time spent with her brother as he worked on Rush- as an emergency access for the bot's systems.

"Hmm, this will have to do for now..." He commented. "Dr. Wily built me for fighting, so I don't really know much about fixing other robots." Ballade admitted with a frown. "Hopefully, this should serve as a 'shunt', to re-rout his critical functions through a back-up... at least, I think so. If this works, then his systems should reinitialize in just a moment." He tried to explain, as much for his own benefit as hers.

"And with a little luck, we should be able to get him back up on his feat and moving." Balled reasoned as he stepped back from the fallen support unit. "Like I said, I'm no robot doctor... And, uh, this all just guesswork on my part." He added with a sigh. "Still, all things considered, it could be a lot worse."

"How?" Roll asked, having a hard time imaging how things could be much worse.

"Honestly," he started, rubbing the back of his head. "this guy was pretty lucky that he wound up here, rather than teleporting through something solid- _like a wall."_

Roll's expression shifted from concerned to downright petrified. "What do you mean?"

"The machine I mentioned," he reminded. "It was using Bass lake an _amplifier..._ The attacks traveled through him, and were boosted at Mega Man." Ballade explained. "By the time we got to them, it was getting pretty close to burning out his core at the rate it was going... But that's all it was built for, so it didn't have the armor or shielding to withstand a single direct shot from Proto Man."

The building rocked around, and Ballade reached out to help steady Roll until it subsided. "This whole place is unstable- the infrastructure must be damaged!" He exclaimed as dust and debris fell around them.

"How long do we have?!" Roll asked, dusting herself off.

"Not long enough." He answered. "Now, come on Roll," Balled started, offered her his hand. "let's get out of here."

 **...o.o.o...**

Proto Man frowned. "So here I am... fumbling my way through trying to stop you from _blowing up_ and taking out everything with you when you go off." He grumbled to himself. _"Yeah_ , nooo pressure..." He declared, shaking his head.

"I'm no roboticist..." He continued. "I'll have to take a more _low-tech_ approach." Proto Man reasoned as he looked at the robot, then over to the wall. "Wait... Maybe I can block the signal!" He declared as rushed over to the wall and began work on prying loose one of the metallic panels. With the tip of his boot against the wall, he managed to wrench the layer of metal free from the frame.

He set about moving Bass onto the section of metal, then began working it- bending the metal to cover his torso like a hardened steel blanket.

" _Proto Man, what's going on?!"_ A familiar girlish voice called.

He snapped to attention, looking up from his work. He instantly recognized Roll, clad in her red dress and her blonde locks swaying, along with Ballade, still in his first form. However, it took Proto Man a moment to process the fact that Treble- Bass' support unit- was also with them.

He felt relief momentarily wash over him. "Roll... I'm glad you're alright." Proto Man offered her with a rare genuine smile. "A signal is being broadcast- directly at Bass- to trigger a fatal fault in his systems, that will cause his power core to go critical..." He paused. "If Doctor Light or Doctor Cossack were here, then they could probably come up with something to block the signal... But all I- all any of us- can do is to try to manually block the signal long enough to get him out range of it... before he blows up."

His sister paled, though Ballade was aghast. _"Blows up?!"_ He exclaimed. "Then we need to get the hell out of hear, and pronto!" The purple robot declared. "What about the others?"

"Rush took off with Mega Man, and I already activated Fire Man's emergency beam-out... But it'll take too long to beam each of us out individually." Proto Man explained. "We'll have to go at the same time, but we'd need to use a separate support unit for each of us..."

One of the lesser known uses for the support bots was that they had built-in recall systems installed in them, capable of beaming themselves and their 'partner' out of danger.

Just then, in a flash of light, Eddie and Beat appeared, the red bipedal and blue winged bots looking on intently at the humanoid robots before them.

Proto Man stood up. "Okay, Treble- you take Bass back to Doctor Light's lab." He instructed, only for the wolf-like robot to cast a quick glance to Roll, and the blonde to give him a nod. "Roll, Ballade, you two beam out of here with Eddie and Beat."

"Wait!" Roll protested. "W-what about you?!"

"As long as we get Bass out the broadcast range of that signal, then it doesn't matter if I beam back to the lab or hoof it on foot." Proto Man reasoned. "Either way, **he's** the concern right now." He proclaimed as he gestured a gloved hand toward the prone black and gold robot.

After a moment, Roll nodded. "Blues, no matter what happens..." She began softly, brushing her hand against his helmet as she looked intently at the eyes concealed behind the dark black visor. "Rock and I are so lucky to have you as a big brother." She finished, before leaning in to hug him.

He stepped back and smiled coolly. "Hey, come on, it's what brothers are for, right?"

With that, Proto Man watching as his younger sister and brother beamed away, along with their two new 'guests'. After a moment, he exhaled. "Now, I just have to hope all of this beaming back and forth in such a short period of time hasn't overloaded the Lab's teleportation system..."

 **...o.o.o...**

The first arrival was Fire Man, who arrived on the tele-pad in an exhausted heap. Doctor Light had been in the middle of working on an upgrade for Mega Man, when he'd heard the preemptive alert and watched in confusion as the robot master appeared and toppled off the pad and onto the lab floor.

"What in the blazes is going on?!" The scientist had exclaimed, not even aware that more than one of his robots was gone. However, before Fire Man could even try to explain, the alert sounded off again, followed by a flash of light and the arrival of Rush and an unconscious Mega Man.

"Rock?!" He exclaimed, his voice filled with worry. The red robotic canine watched, concerned as the Doctor knelt down to check on Mega Man. However, he had scant time to dwell on his condition as the alert sounded off for a third time. "What's going on?" He mused aloud.

Looking to the nearby display, he saw multiple inbound signatures...

 _-Incoming:.._

 _DLN-002, DLN-001^2, DLN-001^3, MKN-003.1..._

 _Warning! Warning!_

 _Unauthorized Signature: SNW-001, SNW-001^1_

"Roll, and the others..." He thought, referring to Eddie, Beat, and Ballade (the latter's designation having been amended to reflect his status as "friendly" with the lab's systems). "But the others...? Wait, 'SWN-001' is Bass!" Dr. Light exclaimed. "Auto, quickly, to the lab!"

The bulky green maintenance Robot appeared, just in time for a massive flash of light to momentarily fill the room. The Roboticist squinted, then his eyes went wide. Roll was clutching Beat, while Ballade had his hands planted on Eddie's flat top, and Basse was draped across Treble's back- both the bot and his support unit looking pretty beaten up at the moment.

"W- what in heaven's name is going on?!" The Doctor asked frantically.

"Dad, Wily turned against Bass!" Roll exclaimed. "There's something really bad going on!"

Ballade stepped forward. "Dr. Light, sir," he interjected. "Dr. Wily had some kind of machine, and it was firing its attacks... _through_ Bass, using him as some kind of giant amplifier for its attacks. By the time we destroyed it, it had already done _a lot_ of damage to both of them."

Dr. Light pulled a scanner from his pocket. "Good grief, the non-conductive shielding that protects his critical systems is almost totally gone... You arrived just in time, another attack would almost surely have destroyed his core." He remarked in shocked amazement. "And Rock's own shielding is near critical, though- wait, where's Blues, why isn't he here with the rest of you?"

"He sent the rest of us ahead, and said he'd follow us." Roll replied.

The bearded man nodded. "Of course," Doctor Light reasoned. "that's just like him. He- he didn't want to risk overloading the teleportation system... but-"

"Doctor!" Auto exclaimed. "The lab's systems are registering a massive power spike, coming from the known location of Dr. Wily's Fortress!" He went on, looking over the data. "The fortress's power plant must be going critical... It's going to blow any minute!" He declared.

"Quickly, do an emergency lock onto him and beam him directly here." The Doctor instructed.

Before Auto could carry out his instructions, the display screen for the teleportation pad flashed red, just before an internal explosion blew off one of the panels making up the pad.

"Oh no!" Roll cried out, looking to the other bank of monitors. "The fortress... its readings are gone," she murmured eerily. "It... it just blew up."

 **(- _To Be Continued_ -)**


	4. Chapter 4

When I wrote Chapter 01, I had certain points I wanted to cover- chiefly, that Roll was more than just Mega Man's sister, and that Bass was more than just a copy of Mega Man. Chapter 02 sets up the larger storyline- ie, Wily betraying Bass- and introduces more characters.

Ballade was always an interesting character to me, more than the other "Mega Man Killers", and his presence will be explained later on. While I felt chapters 1 and 2 were strong, chapter 3 mainly served as a transition point between them and this chapter. Still, I hope you guys enjoy this one.

Anyway, thanks to Shironek0, LivingAtSomePointInTime, and angry hater112 for their reviews.

* * *

 **MEGA MAN:  
"LOVE IS ELECTRIC"**

 **Part 04**

 _Moments earlier..._

Proto Man had felt the already damaged fortress shaking around him, realizing that it was structurally compromised, and the sound of an explosion told him that the power grid was failing. The output from the power core would keep increasing, until it was fed back and went critical...

The red and gray robot activated his emergency teleportation protocol: causing the system to lock onto the nearest teleportation reception point- in this case, Dr. Light's lab. With any luck, he would arrive on the teleportation pad- hopefully, still functional and more or less in one piece!

What actually happened was considerably less spectacular...

He'd re-materialized suddenly, moments before he came crashing to the ground. Still, the fact that he was presently able to process that something had gone wrong meant that things could have turned out much, much worse- chiefly, he could have materialized in some part of the surrounding landscape. At the moment, he blinked a few times, attempting to collect his thoughts.

There was a crack running across the visor of his helmet. He was receiving any info from his com-link at the moment, meaning it had likely been damaged in the impact. On top of that, his left shoulder had been knocked out of alignment, as indicated by the nasty sound of metal grinding against metal when he tried to move it. He grunted as he got up into a sitting posture. Proto Man could tell there was also something wrong with his right knee as he moved, something was loose.

Proto Man gripped his left shoulder firmly, then pressed into it- gasping as he more or less got it back into alignment. He sighed, removing his helmet in order to try and get it working again...

 **...o.o.o...**

Doctor Light looked intently at the monitor, nodding to himself. "There's too much distortion, caused by the energy output by the explosion... But," he paused. "but his termination signal hasn't been picked up either, so it's possible that he's still functioning." The scientist reasoned. "In the mean time, I should focus my attention on attending to those that I _can_ help..."

Auto was running diagnostics on Fire Man. "You're lucky to still be functioning, considering that you intentionally deactivated your limiter." The green robot reprimanded the other bot. "As it is, your fine motor-servos and weaponry will need a lot of work, but at least you didn't burn out."

"I won't apologize for doing what I had to." Fire Man countered defensively. "But... I am sorry causing you all such a hassle." He quickly conceded after a moment.

"Auto," the scientist began. "what's the status of Treble?"

The broadly-set robot looked to the Doctor. "It looks like the reroute Ballade performed worked. He's in one of the other rooms, recharging..." Auto paused. "Though, I don't think Rush likes him, since he's been 'keeping an eye' on him since he arrive back here."

Light nodded and turned to where Mega Man and Bass were, the two robots laid out on maintenance tables, with diagnostics devices monitoring them. "It's ironic," he began, observing Roll as she silently looked over the two prone robots with concern. "Wily copied Rock's design so thoroughly that I don't imagine I'll have all that much trouble repairing him." He added wryly.

"Then you _are_ going to fix him?" Roll asked, looking up.

The Doctor nodded. "Rock would be upset with me, otherwise." He replied with a slight smile as he spoke. "And besides, I've devoted myself to the field of robotics, and I'm not going to let a robot- _any_ robot- perish, not while there's still something I can do for them." He added.

"It's the same for Mega Man." Ballade interjected, appearing at Roll's side. "He'd never hesitate to help someone in need, no matter who or what they are..." The purple robot commented, bringing his hand to rest against his chest. "Even me... I tried to destroy him, and he still came back for me."

"Yes," Dr. Light replied, retrieving a tool from a nearby tray. "Since the moment I activated Rock, he's been evolving and learning, far beyond his original programming." He replied as he pointed the device toward Bass's head. "Unlike when I created Rock, I never planned for combat... Bass's design is taken from his post-conversion schematics... I expect his non-combat programming is limited."

The end of the tool lit up as it hummed to life. "Starting with his helmet, I'll use the magnetic lance to safely disengage the couplings holding his external armor." Light announced, setting the tool down as he reached over to grip the sides of the helmet, under the 'fins'. "Hmm, interesting..." He observed, as he pulled the helmet off- revealing a full head of shoulder-length purple hair. "Roll, would you please check on your brother?" He asked the blonde. "I've set his systems to run a diagnostic check, to make sure there's no serious faults, before we begin recharging him."

After a moment, Roll nodded and walked over to her brother, while Auto brought a 'gurney' over to the side for him to deposit the helmet on it. "Ballade, could you please monitor the com-link, in case Blue checks in, while I get started here?" He asked, getting a nod from the robot.

"Dad," Roll spoke up. "The diagnostic hasn't registered any faults in Rock's systems, should I go ahead and hook him to one of the E-tanks so he can start recharging?"

"Yes, thank you, my dear." He replied, not looking away from Bass as he continued applying the lance to release the robot's armor. "That would be a great help." He added, just as the seals on his 'breastplate' released, allowing for the removal of the bulky piece of armor.

 **...o.o.o...**

" _Okay, let's see if that does the trick..."_ Proto Man thought to himself as he fiddled with the systems in his helmet. "The wireless link is ruined... But, the com-link itself is intact, so I should be able to link it directly to my own power supply... via the induction port in my arm."

The chip that allowed him to perform instantaneous point-to-point movements, via the teleportation network, was burned out. So his only option at the moment was to try and establish contact with Doctor Light and the others at the lab, who could then send someone to pick him up.

With that, he set the battered helmet down- the visor removed and the in-built microphone uncovered so that he could inspect it for any damage. "Hmm, looks good." He murmured. "Everything _looks_ to be in order in here." Proto Man remarked, grunting lightly as his bad knee shifted while he leaned over to deposit the helmet down nearby in the grass. "I hope... Now, I just need to jimmie-rig my own internal power supply to serve as an _external_ power source..."

The injured robot opened a small hatch on the underside of his left forearm, revealing a narrow socket port nestled within the exposed endoskeleton. "Okay now, let's see..." Proto Man then paused, studying the port for a moment. "Hopefully, I can pull this thing loose without taring the wiring..."

 **...o.o.o...**

Dr. Light wore a pair of protective goggles over his eyes, as he worked to replace the non-conductive shielding for Bass's power core. Presently, the compact power source had been removed- though it was still connected to the robot, via the link cable- as he worked on the shielding with a thermal device.

At the moment, the robot was restrained on the maintenance table- for his own safety- his breastplate removed and his inner carapace opened. The roboticist had taken the precaution of disabling his blaster canon, which had required him to remove the entire black and gold "gauntlet" from his right forearm, and left the delicate endoskeleton exposed between his elbow and wrist.

As he worked, Dr. Light considered what was perhaps the most obvious difference between the robots that he had created and those built by Wily. His former partner (and friend) had created generations of destructive robots in the years following his first coup. The six that he had stolen from him, designated DL-003 to DL-008, had been designed and constructed with an "Ethics Chip"- effectively, the robotic equivalent of a conscience- in addition to being programmed with the "Laws of Robotics"...

No.1: _"No Robot shall harm a human, nor through inaction, allow a human to come to harm."_

The Doctor had eventually reclaimed the six stolen robots and restored their programming. However, the second and third waves of robots had been built by Wily alone, and they likely lacked the restraints imposed by _The Laws_ , hence why they had been able to attack humans. After that...

Well, including himself, there were presently only a handful of scientists with the skill and knowledge capable of creating intelligent, fully-aware robots: Himself and Doctor Wily, Doctor Mikhail Cossack, Doctor Noelle Lalinde, and Doctor Pedro Astil.

Wily had kidnapped Mikhail's daughter and used her to blackmail the Doctor into creating robots for him in his latest attempt at conquest. He'd known Pedro for a number of years, and had understood his predicament when his own Robot- Plant Man- had been among the eight robots taken by Wily during the later rounds of the Global Robot Tournament. At the end of that ordeal, Rock managed to capture the insane Doctor, resulting in him being imprisoned for his crimes.

Somehow, and Light wasn't entirely sure how or when, Doctor Wily had gained access to Mega Man's schematics, which he had used to create the robot that he was presently working on.

All the light Robots had been given the capacity to experience emotions, and he wondered if there was some kind of emotional link between Roll and this robot. After arriving at the lab, the Doctor had noted that Rock's sister seemed unusually concerned for the Wily bot...

But then, he knew from experience that no robot was defined solely by his or her programming. Even Wily's robots weren't inherently "evil". Rather, like humans, they were a product of the factors involved in their 'creation', in the same way that a medical imbalance could result in psychopathic or sociopathic tendencies in humans. And just as in the case of human disorders, abhorrent behavior in Robots wasn't a definitive diagnosis, and certainly not the last word when it came to their futures...

Ballade was perfect proof of this, as the purpose of his existence- when first conceived- was as a robot created to serve as a "Mega Man Killer". And yet, somehow through his encounters with Rock, he was able to evolve beyond the limits of his programming- to the extent that he was capable of discerning the difference between right and wrong, of his own free will. His case was interesting to Dr. Light, not just from an ethical perspective, but also from a scientific one. While he had included ethical guidelines in Mega Man's core programming, he couldn't program him to _believe_ in them.

Programming could always be altered, but you couldn't 'reconfigure' one's beliefs. In the same way you could temporarily 'brainwash' people to act against their own beliefs, you still couldn't change who they were, hence why conditioned subjects either broke free or deteriorated under control. In humans, it was called schizoid disassociative disorder: the true self remained and rebelled against control, just as the true 'self' of his first six Robot Masters remained in spite of Wily's reprogramming.

Rock, or Mega Man as he was more commonly known, didn't need him to tell him to do the right thing, just as Light knew Rock didn't do the right thing because his programming compelled him to, but rather because he _chose_ to. The Doctor had set the groundwork for him to learn, a core framework, by which he could formulate his own views on a wide range of issues- including morality.

And this was where things got... _murky_. Rock had formulated his views, based on certain core ideals that Doctor Light had provided him. But there was no human influence in Ballade's case- just one robot learning from another. And the scientists wasn't sure how to feel about this. If Rock was so _evolved_ as to be capable of influencing _other_ robots, even unknowingly, by example... Than, there was potentially no limit to what he could achieve. And that line of thinking would frighten some people.

Doctor Light wondered if even _he_ could constrain Rock at this point. Could anyone or anything? After all, Rock was clearly becoming far more than 'just a robot', this much was evident. But, if he was truly alive, _a person_ in his own right, then... was he was _beyond_ the the Laws of Robotics?

Doctor Light was interrupted before he could explore the line of thought any further by an alert. He set down his instrument and removed his goggles as he turned around in his chair, toward the source of the noise- an alert sounding over the com-system, which Ballade was manning.

 _Minutes later..._

"Blues? _Blues_ , is that you?" Doctor Light asked frantically.

" _Yeah, sorry to worry you guys."_ Came his voice over the com-system. _"I guess... some of Rock's bad habits are rubbing off on me, because I didn't want to let him or any of you guys down."_

"You could never disappoint me, Blues." The bearded Doctor asked, his tone steadying. "Now, what's your current status, are your systems operable?"

" _Structurally injured, but fine, more ore less..."_ Proto Man answered. _"I can't be beamed in... 'Cause I'm pretty sure that my teleportation chip burned out."_ He continued _"Plus, my right knee is in need of repair, so I can't hoof it it on my... Sorry, but I'll need to be picked up."_

"Of course." Doctor Light replied, relieved. "Try and keep transmitting on this signal, so that Auto can use it to trace your location and e-vac you." The roboticist instructed. "And Blues... You did _good_ , you got everyone out of Wily's fortress safely... And I know both of your siblings will be happy to see you back here a the lab, safe and well." He offered gently, before turning to Ballade.

"Please alert Auto to the situation." Dr. Light began. "And... I'd like for you to be present when Bass eventually regains consciousness." He instructed him. "With Mega Man still recovering and Proto Man unavailable, you're the most capable Combat robot we have available."

Ballade nodded. "Of Course, Doctor Light."

 **...o.o.o...**

 _ **~Wily Robotics Systems, Inc.~**_

 _CS:Run__

 _...Processing..._

 _..._

 _Warning:~Critical Error!_

 _..._

 _System shutdown required to prevent irreparable damage to Core..._

 _...Processing..._

 _..._

 _Assessment..._

 _Core: Intact... AI Functions: Intact... Systems: Minor Damage..._

 _..._

 _Reboot required... Initiating..._

 _..._

 _Reboot 100% Successful!_

There was a sudden inrush of light...

A pair of crimson eyes slowly opened, followed by a groan. It the robot a moment process the fact that he was somehow alive and functioning. The next realization that came to him was the fact that he was somewhere unfamiliar to him... and he was restrained!

Panicked by his situation and the unknown environment, he began fighting against the restraints on his wrists and ankles. Casting his gaze downward, he was met by the sight of his chest- opened up, so that his glowing power core was visible. Additionally, he realized that the metallic armor that he normally sported was absent from his upper body, along with his helmet.

Another detail he quickly realized was that whatever metal was used for the shackles, it was _damned_ strong, as he was unable to break free of it. Bass was so panicked, that he didn't initially realize that his arm-cannon had literally been dismantled- though the parts comprising his arm remained.

" _Bass, relax, you're not in any danger."_

The purple-haired robot in question turned toward the voice... He was first met by the figure of a tall purple and brass armored robot, with in-built weapons launchers in his shoulders. However, beside the battle-robot, stood the smaller (and more feminine) form of Roll. The former, he remembered as one of the three "Mega Man Killers" constructed by Wily, prior to himself.

First Enker, than Punk, and finally Ballade...

As for the figure next to him, Bass instantly recognized the feminine domestic bot- her long blonde hair tied with a green ribbon, and clad in her distinctive bright red dress and black-and-white jacket. And for some reason, as he looked upon the young woman before him, he felt strangely at-ease in her presence, ceasing his struggles in the process. "You, you're Ballade... And Roll... W-what's going on, w-where am I, why am I here?" He asked in quick succession, his tone leveling out as he spoke.

"Bass, when we arrived, there was some kind of machine," Ballade began. "It was firing on you, using you as some kind of... 'booster' for its attacks." The battle robot explained. "Both you and Mega Man were in pretty bad shape by the time we got there... I don't think you would have lasted much longer."

"It was crazy," Roll interjected. "Wily abandoned the fortress, I saw him take off in the Skull Flier." The blonde robot explained. "After that... it was like the whole place was coming apart."

"Standard Wily fail-safe procedure." Ballade offered. "In the case that his plan fails and he's forced to flee, he adopts a 'scorched earth' policy." He continued grimly. "During his escape, he remotely triggers the base's power-plant to overload." The robot paused. "The ensuing explosion destroys all evidence of his operations, including anything that could lead back to him... as well as anything and anyone who's still stuck inside the fortress when it goes up."

"But his own robots..." Roll replied. "Th-that's horrible!"

" _That's_ Wily." Ballade answered in a resigned tone, crossing his arms.

"I- I remember now..." The purple-haired robot began. "Doctor Wily, he betrayed me... That crazy old fool, he finally did it, he _betrayed_ me." Bass added darkly, slumping back. "He left me to be destroyed along with everything else." The Wily-bot added dryly. "I... I should have seen it coming."

Roll regarded the bound robot on the maintenance table. His collar-length purple hair was fanned out slightly on the sides, with the bangs in the front partially obscuring his crimson eyes- which seemed to be gazing upward at nothing- while his purple 'eye-stripes' ran down the sides of his cheeks. His face bore a dejected look at the moment as he otherwise appeared to be taking things in.

She took a step toward him. The domestic bot noted the black body suit he wore was similar to the light blue one her brother wore. However, the pieces of armor that still remained- including his boots his and left gauntlet- were clearly heavier than Rock's. He was, she idly noted, also a bit taller than her brother by a few inches (and with slightly more muscle definition to him).

She heard him groan and mutter something. "Bass...?"

He tilted his head to her for a moment, something unreadable flickering across his eyes, before his gaze returned the ceiling once more. "...What now?" He replied bleakly. "The man who created me, he tried to destroy me..." Bass recounted. "He said... that he would see to it that I destroyed Mega Man..."

"...One way or another."

 **. . .o.o.o. . .**

Mega Man's eyes slowly opened, then blinked a few times. Then, panicked, he tried to sit bolt upright, only to toppled back. "I'm alive?" He mused aloud to himself.

"Yes, you were lucky." A familiar voice answered.

The robot propped himself up onto his elbows and turned toward Doctor Light. "W-what about the others, did they all make it back?" He asked frantically.

The scientist nodded. "Yes, everyone made out of that place..." He replied. "It would seem that we've all been very lucky today- given that things could have been much, _much_ worse."

"Than they're all safe..." He began. "Wait, where are the others?"

"Your sister made it back safely," Light started. "As well as a two _unexpected guests."_

"Bass and Treble? They're here?" Mega Man asked.

"Yes, both of them arrived here, along with Ballade and the others." Light replied. "It seems you've set quite an example to those around you, Rock." He continued. "Fire Man very nearly burned himself out to melt the blast doors between you and them. And your older brother, Blues, he risked his own life to ensure Bass and Treble made it out alive, as well." The Doctor revealed. "His teleportation chip was burned out, so Auto left a little while ago to pick him up and bring him back to the lab."

The robot eased back down and exhaled. "That's a relief... I'm glad everyone survived."

Light smiled at the comment. "That fundamental appreciation of life you have is something I couldn't have programmed you with, it's all you." He remarked softly. "It's part of what makes you who you are, and why you're such an exemplary individual. You've realized, without any need of my input, that _all_ life is precious, regardless of whether it's carbon or silicon-based."

Doctor Light pulled up a chair and sat down beside the maintenance table. "Rock... just what exactly happened inside Doctor Wily's fortress?" He asked.

"It's hard to explain... It all happened so suddenly." Mega Man began. "One moment, I was facing off against Bass, and the next, this thing appeared at started attacking both of us..." He began, only for his eyes to widen in recollection. "Wait, I remember... Wily, he spoke to us!"

"What did he say?" Light asked.

Mega Man took a breath, then began. "He said that he was done tolerating Bass's 'failures', that he had failed to carry out what he'd been created for... to destroy me." He paused. "That machine, it was firing its attacks through Bass, using him as an amplifier."

"Rock," Light inquired. "Did Wily say anything else, anything that might explain his actions?"

The blue robot nodded. "Yes, he said something about 'being on the verge of a breakthrough'..."

 **. . .o.o.o. . .**

"The bastard said he was on the verge of some kind of 'breakthrough'..." Bass recounted. "He said that is was going to 'change everything'. And that he wasn't going to 'tolerate inefficiency'."

"But what could he have meant by that, Bass?" Roll asked, concerned.

The other robot scoffed. "You're asking me? I'm the one shackled to this table, the one who just got his ass fried by a metal beach ball... I'm the wrong person to ask." Bass answered.

"Yes, but what Rock told me supports the fact you were an unwilling victim in this."

Roll and Ballade turned to see as Doctor Light entered the room. "As to the matter of those 'shackles' you referred to," he continued. "I don't think there's any further need for those." He finished, holding up a device, which he clicked, releasing Bass's restraints.

Bass sat up, but before he could say or do anything else, Light reached over and triggered something that caused the robot's chest to close back up. "What now, Light?" The black-clad robot asked the man as he zipped up the front of his bodysuit. "What happens to me now?"

Doctor Light smirked. "Well, Bass, that depends entirely on you."

 **End of Part 04**


End file.
